Does anyone winter in Florida?

[desertgal Member Find all posts View Profile Close desertgal]

Thanks for everyone's comments. We're still thinking of Clearwater because we have family there. I think we'll be going down for a few days in mid-May, so if you know of a good website to check for condo deals, or possibly a realtor that can help us understand the local market, please let me know.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Go to Realtor.com and search for zip codes near Clearwater. I can IM you my zip and some Clearwater ones also. That will give you and idea of prices. Also decide what you must have in a condo and what you would like, but could live without.

If you have any specific questions, please ask and I'll try to help. We were sort of in your situation 8 years ago when we bought, but have been very happy that we did.

Nancy

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Better study the area.

There is Clearwater . . . then there is Clearwater Beach. Same for St. Pete. There are several other beach towns, mostly running from one into another.

& many other towns/cities all running together, as it is urban, with sprawl.

But, since you said Clearwater: Fannie Mae Listing Results 1 - 10 of 17

The first one I opened was a condo that last sold for $189K. It is now $39,900.

If I'm not mistaken, that is Pinellas County: Fannie Mae Listing Results 1 - 10 of 124

There are areas you do not want to be in.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Wow! I just was looking at foreclosures in highly dersireable counties in SW FL . . . Charlotte, Lee & Collier. Today, total, there are close to 1000. There are so many it takes too long to look at all of them, so I look at where they are located on the map and open the ones in the right places.

I am seeing crap and I am seeing the wonderful canal homes with Gulf access we gave up looking for 14 years ago. Homes with Florida rooms and inground pools for $60K.

It makes it very tempting to undo, or ignore, the plan we are in the middle of (Plan B) and go back to Plan A.

These are not on a rip-off foreclosure site . . . they are the real deal with little down, no appraisal needed, not tied up in committee. They are the ones that have been through all that and ready to go to the first buyer to come along.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Our friends bought a condo in Lehigh, over 55 community, on golf course, for mid 60's a few years ago. last year they had a leak and replaced nearly everything inside, spent 22 thousand. this year they bought in the Villages, and they just sold the condo for 22 thousand and are closing on it this week. It is a very nice condo,

[GoofyHobbie Member Find all posts View Profile Close GoofyHobbie]

Staying In Florida On A Shoe String

JLB,

If you don't mind sharing I would appreciate a link or at least a hint on where to find what you found regarding foreclosures in Florida.

Thanks in advance.

Meanwhile for anyone thinking of using your long-a-go purchased timeshares for exchanges into Florida you might find this little tid bit of interest:

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...confirmed.html (Opps! Link is only accessable by Wyndham HOA Forum users.)

Dave

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Dave, i am not allowed to access that thread you posted. What is in it? Secret information?

[GoofyHobbie Member Find all posts View Profile Close GoofyHobbie]

rapmarks,

Sorry about that, I forgot that the Wyndham HOA Forum was a "private forum."

I doubt that anyone would mind if I share it with your here since it involves going to Florida for extended periods of time.

Wyndham Points Deposited With RCI & Resulting Exchanges Confirmed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As a Retiree who enjoys Florida Beach Front Property in the Winter and Early Spring, I thought it might be helpful to share with you how I met my goals using a Wyndham Points purchase that was not consumated until August, 2009.

Back in June, 2009 I jumped into the deep end with the decision to buy what I considered to be a lot of Wyndham Points (Re-sale of course), given that I already owned three weeks of timeshare at two different resorts. The Wyndham purchase involved four separate contracts for Myrtle Beach Wyndham Points.

Before I jumped into the purchase I did a lot of homework to get each step right.

Why Wyndham and why at Myrtle Beach?

Well, that has been expounded upon at another well known Timeshare site using the same Username: GoofyHobbie, so if you really want the details about why I chose Wyndham purchases at Myrtle Beach instead of anywhere else you can search the subject using my Username. With a little research you can probably find those posts or get back to me by PM and I will help you find them.

The final total came to 469,000 Wyndham Points at Wyndham Myrtle Beach which equates to about 16 full week exchanges with RCI if one were to decide to deposit all of the points in 28K increments.

Realistically, I was like another poster in this Forum who was faced with the decision on what to do with a ton of Wyndham points with the 2009 Use Year all but gone.

As I said earlier the purchase was consumated August, 2009 (leaving 5 months of maintenance cost for the initial complement of 469K.) Yeah, I was fortunate or my homework paid off, because I refused to pay for maintenance fees that came due when my name was not recognized as an owner by Wyndham.

Sunk or Purchase & Closing Cost: $1,702 (just a little over 1/3 cent per point)

Five months of 2009 Maintenance: $992.55

Here is how I disposed of my 2009 points and the end result:

Deposited the 469K with RCI in various increments and borrowed 14K from my 469K that I had available for 2010 to make the last 28K deposit.

To trade with RCI one would have to pony up $189 for each of the trades.

So Exchange Trade cost came to: $1,701 for the trades shown below.

(Ironic isn't it that my Exchange Fees came to the same dollar amount as my Sunk Cost purchase for the points.)

I ended up with 9 weeks in Florida duing a time that I preferred and those weeks were or will be in 2-BR quality resorts on Beach Front property.

Note: The entire 469K plus the 14K borrowed points will be fully used before the end of 2010, well after they would have expired if left at Wyndham and well before they would have expired with RCI.

Using the figures above you can see that the cost for the 9 weeks in Quality Accomodations in Florida (63 nights) came to just under $4,400 + roughly $74 for the 2010 maintenance fee on the 14K borrowed points.

Dividing $4,474 by 63 nights equates to roughly $71 per night.

I was left with 469K less the 14K borrowed for 2010 usage and each year into the future I will receive a subsequent allotment of 469K with my on-going cost just maintenance fees which in 2010 totals out to $2.468.34. To that amount I would have to add Exchange Fees for any increments that I deposit with RCI.

Note: I do not ever again have to be concerned about my intial cost or amoritizing that cost over time. That fact will make it much easier to pull the trigger and get rid of any of the contracts some time in the distant future.

Using the $2,468 maintenance fee cost plus the anticipated cost of RCI trades ($189 x 16) which comes to a total of $3,024 one could conceivably get 16 weeks of quality living in Florida or elsewhere for roughly $5,500.00.

[That could equate to 112 nights or about 3 months in a 2 BR fully furnished Condo on the beaches of Florida in WINTER and Early SPRING and possibly other seasons of the year. Given the square footage of living space and the fact that the condos are fully furnished $49.00 per night is NOT A BAD DEAL!!!!

Here is what happened to the 2009 points:

28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 4th wk Nov, 2009
28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 1st wk Mar, 2010
28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 2nd wk Mar, 2010
28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 2nd wk Nov, 2010
105 K used to get 2 BR DVC @ Vero Beach for 1st wk Nov, 2010
28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 2nd wk Nov, 2010
28 K used to get 2 BR Wyndham Ocean Walk 3rd wk Nov, 2010
105 K used to get 2 BR @ a VRI Cocoa Beach Resort 1st wk Dec, 2010
105 K used to get 2 BR @ a VRI Cocoa Beach Resort 2nd wk Dec, 2010
__________________
Dave

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Gosh, I thought no one would ever ask where I am seeing $200K properties for $50K.

Then I thought, no one believes it cuz it's too good to be true, so they are just going to the traditional real estate referrals and looking at the same type of stuff, only overpriced.

Then I thought, hey, if a dufus sitting in his hillbilly house with his WIN97 can find the deals, anyone oughta be able to.

OK, OK, here's hint.

Homepath

Sure, way to go, now someone's gonna go buy the place we want.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

& to think Ray and Darlene Harper did 26 weeks a year for a couple hundred dollars each.

Come to think of it, I've got one of their itineraries saved somewhere.

[GoofyHobbie Member Find all posts View Profile Close GoofyHobbie]

No Argument There!

JLB,

No doubt, given your experience you have run across many who have taken advantage of their opportunities for as low as a couple of Hundred Dollars per week; but were those weeks in 2-BR Units in Quality (Silver Crown or Gold Crown) Resorts on the Beachs of Florida in comfortable get out and get a tan type weather.

Maybe and then maybe not!

I did not post my experience to brag! I posted to show other timeshare owners that their timeshare points and/or weeks are assets that can be used for quality, spacious and comfortable accomodations on the Beach not just once in a while; but consistently.

If one gets Bonus Weeks that cost zip, nada, -0-, and no or little maintenance cost involvement as well as little or no exchange fee then no doubt they can go to Florida and consistently stay in great accomodations when the comparison is to a Mobile Home, Hotel Room, Motel Room, or a timeshare in Orlando for as little as a few hundred bucks a week.

I like my creature comforts; but I also enjoy space and being where my wife can fully enjoy the Ocean which is the primary reason we go to Florida.

Dave

[GoofyHobbie Member Find all posts View Profile Close GoofyHobbie]

Thanks For the Info!

JLB,

Gosh, I thought no one would ever ask where I am seeing $200K properties for $50K.

You put it out there and I had little else to do this evening. The taxes are done, television is boring and my Vacation Plans are pretty well set through May of 2011; so hey I had to ask.

Like you I could have done a lot of homework up front; but; hey you had already done so much I figured I would take the short route tonight.

Don't think of yours truly as competition. I seriously doubt that I am going to invest in Real Estate any time soon!!!

Dave

[desertgal Member Find all posts View Profile Close desertgal]

We decided not to go to FL next month. I wasn't thrilled with the listings I saw and so many were short sales. Some of the prices look good, but they often don't have covered parking and the HOA dues are higher than I expected. I just took a quick look at Homepath and saw only 9 listings for Clearwater (under $120K), half of them under contract. Oh well, maybe we don't want to be "stuck" going to the same place every year. Now that winter's over, the impetus has faded!

[Linda VH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Linda VH]

Don't for get to ask if they are doing upgrades or new roofs or whatever as that will be an assessment.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Dave, we in southern Florida think of the places you listed as up north. Everyone from here says it's cold up there.